Richards family

The Richards family occupies a notable and sometimes controversial place in the economic and political history of New England, the American South and the American West. This collection deals principally with the activities of five members of the family: William Jarvis, Reverend Jonas DeForest Richards, DeForest Richards, Bartlett Richards, and Bartlett Richards Jr.

William Jarvis (1770-1859) was a prominent New England businessman. He was an early importer and breeder of Merino sheep, which eventually found their way across the country. From 1802-1810, he served as the United States Consul to Portugal under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

Reverend Jonas DeForest Richards (1809-1872), the son-in-law of William Jarvis, was a Congregational minister in Vermont. Late in his life, he moved to the American South. In 1865, immediately after the Civil War, he purchased and operated a cotton plantation in Wilcox County, Alabama. From 1867-1872, he was Wilcox County’s representative in the state’s Reconstruction Legislature. In 1869-1870, he also served as “president pro-tem” of the University of Alabama. At the time of his death, he worked at the Customs House in Mobile, Alabama.

DeForest Richards (1846-1903), the second son of Reverend Jonas DeForest Richards, was a businessman and politician in Alabama and Wyoming. In the late 1860s and early 1870s DeForest served as sheriff and treasurer in Wilcox County, Alabama. During this time, he also ran an unsuccessful tannery. After the failure of his tannery, he moved to Wyoming and prospered there. He established Richards and Lidell, a successful mercantile firm in Camden, Wyoming. DeForest also served in the Wyoming Legislature. In 1898, he was elected Governor of Wyoming and held that office until his death.

Bartlett Richards (1862-1911), the third son of Reverend Jonas DeForest Richards, was a very powerful cattleman in the American West. A graduate of Andover Academy in Massachusetts, he moved to Wyoming at the age of seventeen and became a ranch hand. In 1879, Bartlett became a cattleman in his own right by buying 1,000 head of cattle and establishing the Shipwheel Ranch on the Belle Fourche River in Northeast Wyoming. A very astute businessman, he greatly increased his holdings in subsequent years. In 1883, Bartlett took over the Upper 33 and Lower 33 Ranches in Sioux County, Nebraska. By 1888, he had also founded the famed Spade Ranch in the Sandhills, near Chadron, Nebraska.

Due to the Sandhills’ arid climate and the infertile soil, Bartlett Richards firmly believed that the federal government should favor ranchers over the homesteaders in the settlement of the region. It was his outspoken opinions on this subject (along with his acquisitions of homesteaders’ claims and illegal fencing of government land) that attracted the enmity of President Theodore Roosevelt and eventually led to his downfall. In 1905, Bartlett and his business partner William Comstock were indicted for fencing federal land. The two men plead guilty and were sentenced to 6 hours detention and a $300 fine. The light sentences angered federal officials, who stepped up efforts to prosecute Richards. In 1906, he was again indicted, this time for land fraud. He was found guilty and sentenced to one year in prison and a $1,500 fine. After an unsuccessful series of appeals, Bartlett was sent to the Adams County Jail in Hastings, Nebraska, in 1910. He died in prison on September 4, 1911, and was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1970.

Bartlett Richards Jr. (1901-1978), Bartlett Sr.’s youngest son, was a businessman and amateur historian. After his retirement from the vice-presidency of Acme Steel Company in Chicago, he worked to rehabilitate his father’s name. In 1972, while going through his mother’s papers, he discovered his father’s letters. With Ruth Van Ackeren, he wrote Bartlett Richards – Nebraska Sandhills Cattleman . The book was published by the Nebraska State Historical Society in 1980, two years after his death.

From the guide to the Richards family papers, 1800-1982, (University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.)